Sponsors
Last week Athletics Wollongong was finally able to resume Wednesday competition! A very encouraging attendance showed that there was a heap of enthusiasm for the return of community sport. We had quite a number of AW debutantes and we were heartened to hear that they noticed and appreciated the warm and supportive environment that we strive to provide for our athletes.
This week's events promise even more excitement, with some crowd favourites: 100m and 400m; and some of the more atypical field events: pole vault and - for our Masters - weight throw.
Given the limited time we have to complete events on a Wednesday night, we've decided to trial running pole vault a little differently this season. There will first be a competition for experienced vaulters, with a starting height of 1.80m, beginning immediately after the 100m. At its completion - and following the second track event - anyone else interested in giving pole vault a go is welcome to go across for an intro and practice. Participants will earn 1 point for their participation (so long as their name is noted on the recording sheet). If they subsequently attend a regular Sunday morning pole vault training session (830-1030) within the following 4 weeks, they'll have an opportunity to get an official height there. This height will appear on their Season Best certificate and be used to determine their points for the event (though, just like for every other discipline, Club Records will only be able to be set on a Wednesday).
Pole vault competitions can sometimes take several hours, so it can be quite challenging to fit them into our Wednesday hit-outs. We think the above could be a pretty good solution and we look forward to introducing people to this exciting and challenging event! If it's a little too challenging, don't worry: just like for the hurdles, there will be an alternative programmed as well.
This week we will also have everyone's absolute favourite event: the BBQ! Profits on the barbie help pay for our Christmas and End-of-Season celebrations, so we encourage everyone to bring an appetite.
There's plenty more to come on Wednesdays looking ahead as well. Aside from the regular excitement, on November 24th we'll hold our Anniversary Spectacular and our December 15th finale for 2021 will also include the Athletics Wollongong Gift.
For those yet to attend a Wednesday meet, here's a little reminder regarding the COVID requirements. As per State Government legislation, only those double-vaccinated, or otherwise under 16 years of age, are currently permitted to attend. Their latest announcement stated that everybody will be able to come from December 15th, or once NSW reaches the 95% double-dose target; whichever happens first.
The current rules - as they apply to our local circumstances - are always listed on the Athletics Wollongong homepage, with a note of the date that the information was last updated, so that people know if/when things have changed. People must read this information entirely before first attending Beaton Park/an Athletics Wollongong meet, so that they know all of the requirements and expectations.
Also required for the time being is RSVP'ing your attendance. Because events are open to eligible participants from beyond our club - and that we don't control the entry point to the facility - we need a means of confirming that attendance will remain under the cap. Moreso, Beaton Park would like us to know how many people are coming so that if we happen to get a huge crowd, they will get some warning and can make arrangements to better facilitate a safe and smooth entry process on the night.
To RSVP for the coming week's Athletics Wollongong Meet, go to the club homepage and click the Details button next to the event you will be attending. The Register button is just above the time and date. Click on Register and enter the required information, most importantly: how many people are coming along with you; i.e. those whose attendance isn't otherwise captured as they're not a participant. Note also, that we only need to count such people once: every sibling needn't say that the same parent is bringing them! :)
We anticipate us having to follow this system for at least the remainder of the year and thank you for your assistance.
Last week also saw the debut of the next iteration of our electronic starting and timing system. We now have a series of wirelessly connected speakers, making the staggered start events achievable with the electronic gun.
Special thanks has to be given to club member Russell Rann whose company, Trueflow Plumbing, assisted as with the purchase of these items.
Looking further afield, entries are currently open for the State Relay Championships. These must be coordinated by club representatives and Athletics Wollongong presently has an online form available for athletes to express their interest. More details on the event, including eligibility, a draft timeteable and the aforementioned form, are available here: https://www.athleticswollongong.org.au/news/2021-nsw-relay-championships/.
Submissions close this Friday! Enter your form ASAP.
Season 2021/22 Registrations are Open!
One aspect of eligibility is, of course, a current registration with your club. We have already nearly equalled our total membership numbers from last season. Come be a part of the action!
Follow this link to register: https://www.athleticswollongong.org.au/registration/. It includes info on pricing and membership types (we've even knocked $10 off the price of Open, Concession and Community memberships!)
Note:
Tell your friends! The best kind of advertising is word-of-mouth.
There are no number bibs this year! That's been the case at Winter events for a while now but this season sees it implemented in the track and field realm for the first time. Those with a keen eye may have spotted this in the photos from last weekend's ANSW competition. While it may vary from event to event (e.g. some Championships may have a one-off bib, and some of the photos noted above showed participants wearing a lane number), there's no longer a bib of your own that you'll use for the entire Summer season. ...that should make check-in at early season comps go far smoother!
The excitement regarding the opening of Beaton Park Leisure Centre after lockdown was soon tempered by news that the track would be shut the following week for maintenance. Professional and technical cleaning was performed during this time by a Melbourne-based company; which is why it couldn't be completed during the closure. Unfortunately - and though it was planned to occur at the same time - line re-marking was not able to be completed. Beaton Park are not able to specify a time/date at this stage for the work to occur, but they don't anticipate it impacting on club activities.
In more uplifting news, Beaton Park have been able to increase their operational hours: we won't have the doors slamming behind us on a Wednesday! We still ask people to move efficiently through the program on an evening (it is a 'school night', after all) but you'll have more opportunity to train than you did a couple of weeks ago. See Beaton Park's webpage for the current hours.
Last newsletter we reported the dates for ANSW's High Performance and Championship meets. There were a couple of glaring omissions though, as they waited to lock in the details. The first of these errant events have now been finalised, with the NSW Combined Events Championships (i.e. decathlon, heptathlon and pentathlon) to be held on the 15th & 16th January in conjunction with ACT Athletics. AW encourages our members to participate in all events on a Wednesday, so we often have high representation at these Champs; we'd like to see even more.
There are plenty of meets before then though, all of which you can see on the ANSW Event Calendar. Some club events (including AW's) have been added to the menu since the last newsletter and there is now a veritable buffet of competitive options listed.
If you haven't already entered, you'll need to be quick to beat the cut-off for the 3000m State Championships and supporting events this coming weekend: entries will close at 10am this morning.
December will see the ANSW roadshow roll into town, with an event to be held on our home track. Our friends at IBS will be hosting An Afternoon of Sprints. Details are scarce at this stage, but it could be a good warm-up for the behemoth of an event commencing later that week: the NSW All Schools Track & Field Championships. Members of ANSW clubs save $5 per event there, so be sure to tell anyone who's intending to participate to join us first: they'll be saving money!
Keeping an eagle eye on the calendar were William Willis and Chelsey Wayne who participated at Throwers Club last weekend. Throwers Club is a monthly Sydney competition where there is a promise of no track runners in sight. It's such a hot-ticket event this season that not only have all available slots in the next competition already been filled, but so has the waitlist!
William threw back-to-back PBs, firstly in the hammer (44.80m) and then in discus (44.96m). Chelsey had the second furthest discus throw among the female cohort with a 43.84m performance: not too shabby for a 13 year old!
HSC wishes and scholarship news
Several of our clubmates will be knuckling down and sitting their HSC exams over the next month. We wish them all the best and hope that their hard work is rewarded.
The pressure is a little off for Lara Check, who has received news of an athletic scholarship to a US college. Sport can certainly take you places, and this time it's taking Lara all the way to Marshall University, West Virginia. Congrats and 'Go Herd'!
Cheers to Simon Harmey for painting up an A-frame for A-thletics Wollongong to A-dvertise upon. We'll have this out on Wednesday nights, to let any people who stumble across us know who we are and what we're about, without them having to summon up the courage to actually ask. We'll also be able to use it when we're out and about in the community.
Australia Day Aquathon and Splash Wollongong
The previous newsletter announced that the Australia Day Aquathon would be back; now we can say that entries are open. If you're not participating in the event though, we're going to call on you to help out. Athletics Wollongong provides late entry and athlete check-in, earning a nice donation from event organiser - and former club member - Rob Battocchio. We'll be taking names of volunteers in the New Year. It's a great way to start a public holiday; make a note in your calendar.
If January 26th doesn't suit your availability, we'll be back on deck on March 6th for Splash Wollongong. Similar duties will be on offer, along with some course marshal roles. Helpers at each of these events will be eligible for financial assistance for National Championships. Apart from that, it's also a fun day out alongside your clubmates!
You don't require a uniform to compete at our Wednesday meets, but you will need one when representing the club (i.e. at any other competition). You can purchase a singlet or crop top from the track office on Wednesday evenings, preferably, or otherwise by arrangement if that's not possible. $40 is the cost, with athletes to supply their own royal blue (or black) pants in the style of their preference.
This is a final call for anyone who would like a short-sleeved competition t-shirt. We have to put in a special order for these and will need to do so within the next couple of weeks to ensure they're ready ahead of major events. Send your interest to athleticswollongong@gmail.com.
The pay is terrible but the work is gratifying: it's volunteering for the Athletics Wollongong Committee. We have a number of vacancies held open since the AGM earlier this year, waiting for a new-season intake of enthusiastic people to sieze upon the opportunities. As it stands, several people on the Committee are pulling double-duty and beyond, just to ensure that the necessary work gets done. Aside from sharing the workload more evenly, there's also the chance that we may achieve even greater things with the time to focus on fewer roles, rather than having to juggle several. No position is especially onerous, it's just that it all adds up.
Any training required will be provided; expectations will be moderated; existing Committee members will be grateful. Secretary, Development Officer, Race Secretary, Fundraising and Grants Officer, are all roles we're looking to fill. There may also be some short-term "special projects" that we could do with some help with. If you've an interest in helping out, send an email to athleticswollongong@gmail.com to begin an obligation-free chat to discuss where your availability and abilities may be best put to use.
Coming Dates
Contact Details
Email davidrosswollongong@hotmail.com with athletics news to include in our regular Illawarra Mercury column. Send other enquiries to athleticswollongong@gmail.com.
See our Facebook and Instagram for more timely alerts, news and fun.